Hydrocarbon removal system

DETAILED DESCRIPTION (1) Progressive Contribution to the Art This invention comprises a process and apparatus for separating and removing undissolved and dissolved VOC contaminants from groundwater more practically and economically than presently known systems.
It is particularly useful in the treatment of water contaminated by gasoline and other fuels leaked or spilled from underground storage tanks.
Highly efficient removal of dissolvable components associated with gasoline such as benzene, toluene, and xylene is accomplished.
This invention comprises several well known devices such as downhole submersible pumps and air strippers.
The process for removing and recovering the VOC pollutants from the groundwater includes pumping the contaminated water from one or more groundwater wells with submersible pumps.
The contaminated water is then introduced into a cyclone separator for removal of solids.
From the separator, the water goes through a bypass style piping system and into a pressure rated vessel or gravity separation tank where the water is retained for a sufficient amount of time to allow separation into an upper phase of floating liquid free product above a lower water phase.
The floating free product is withdrawn from near the top of the pressure vessel.
The water is bled from the bottom of the pressure tank to an air stripper where said water is introduced into the top of a vertical packed column.
The water which is still laden with dissolved VOCs flows by gravity down through the column, while a flow of air is directed up through the packed column to airstrip the volatile compounds from the water.
The vaporized VOCs are typically released to the atmosphere, and the decontaminated water is channeled to a public sewer or released to the environment.
A primary benefit of this invention is its aggregation of the several components needed for VOC recovery from an underground water supply into a single skid mounted pump and treat equipment assembly.
The invention provides a self-contained unit that is portable between recovery well sites